"Nawab Malik Free To Tweet But...": Court Puts Aside Defamation Suit
NDTV
The minister is free to tweet but only after a reasonable verification of facts, the Bombay High Court said.
Anti-drugs office Sameer Wankhede's father Dnyandev Wankhede was today refused interim relief in a defamation case against Maharashtra minister Nawab Milik on his tweets about his family. While finding Mr Malik's tweets "malicious", the Court said it can't be said that allegations made in them could be said to be false at this stage. The minister is free to tweet but only after a reasonable verification of facts, the Bombay High Court said.
Dyandev Wankhede, the father of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Mumbai zonal chief, had slapped a defamation case against Mr Malik and sought damages to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crore from him for allegedly making defamatory comments against his son Sameer Wankhede and family through press conferences and on social media.
The suit sought an order declaring Nawab Malik's statements as defamatory in nature and issuing a permanent injunction restraining the NCP leader from publishing or making statements about the Wankhede family before the media, including on his social media accounts.
In an earlier hearing, the Court had directed Mr Malik to file an affidavit verifying his sensational claims about the officer and his family. The minister had submitted an affidavit the next day saying none of the statements made by him was incorrect and that the evidence produced by him has, in fact, helped the government machinery take corrective steps against Sameer Wankhede.
